Northern Mockingbird

I went to the farm on Saturday and worked there all day. The garden was very overgrown but I got a lot accomplished. I pulled up all of the grass in the bulb garden and used it as mulch. I saw so many ladybugs in the tall grass. I also saw a few caterpillars and frogs while working. I also weeded and mulched around the veggies on the sunny hill. I planted several things, including: two magnolias, a vitex, bronze fennel, catnip, marigolds, zinnias, balsam impatiens, blue spruce sedum, pickle cucumber, four o clock, moonflower, lunaria, sweet pea, blue butterfly pea, yarrow, and a hazelnut tree. Many plants are doing well but some were overgrown with clover. We weren’t able to fully tackle the clover this time but cut it back a bit around a few plants. The strawberries have fruit but the roly polies are eating them. The blackberry is flowering. The tomatillos already have a few baby fruit. The tomatoes look ok but the peppers are not doing as good. My lantana is doing well but the two new roses didn’t make it. My dahlias have come back but the cold winter killed the fig trees. My tea plants aren’t doing that well and may need to be moved. You win some, you lose some. The old rose bush is just starting to bloom. I was taking photos of the flowers and a northern mockingbird came to hang out and sing. It seemed like it was posing for the photos. I took so many photos that I had to delete photos to make more space and my phone died. I am already working on starting the next round of plants in my apartment. It is already getting very hot here and some of my plants like it more than others. I harvested a lot of herbs at the farm. I also got some lettuce and radishes. The lettuce wilted but I have been cooking with the herbs. I will probably pickle the radishes. I got chervil, cilantro, thyme, oregano and chives this time. The rosemary was struggling due to the clover so not ready to be cut yet. We cleared up around the rosemary so it could get more light. I have been making salad dressings with the thyme and oregano, as well as some fish and eggs with the chervil. The cilantro will go in beans and rice and I will use some thyme for mushrooms. I really like having fresh herbs to cook with and I am going to try to grow some at my apartment so I can have them more often. I have done a few drawings this week and started a new book called The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture by Nicole Faires. I took so many pictures of the garden this week that it’s hard to choose favorites. I usually have to take lots of photos for identifying the plants. I often see unfamiliar plants, animals, and insects there and I think it is really fun to learn about new things.